When he picked up the phone Thursday afternoon at his Littleton home, former Broncos defensive coordinator Joe Collier had just heard about John Fox’s hiring as Denver’s head coach. Collier was well-aware of Fox’s credentials as a longtime NFL defensive coordinator, then his nine-year stint as head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

“At Carolina, I thought he did a pretty good job most of the time,” Collier said. “Unfortunately, it looked like they ran out of gas this year.

“But he’s a guy who’s been in the playoffs, and a defensive guy is probably pretty good for what the Broncos need now. It’s getting a guy who understands defense and knows what they need, the kind of players they need.”

Collier was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 1966-68, then was Denver’s defensive coordinator from 1969-88, when he was renowned as the architect of the “Orange Crush” unit that was instrumental in the Broncos’ first Super Bowl season in 1977 — and beyond. His son, Joel, is the Kansas City Chiefs’ assistant general manager, so the Fox-coached Broncos will be going against a Collier.

Randy Gradishar, the anchoring middle linebacker of that Orange Crush unit, is an executive with the Phil Long automobile dealership group.

“As a former player and fan, I think the fans are trusting what John (Elway), Mr. Bowlen and Joe Ellis are doing,” Gradishar said. “They’ve asked a lot of questions in the process, and my thought would be that his experience in coaching, and his ability to put together an experienced coaching staff was important. He’s seen and judged talent, from going to the Super Bowl to seeing some of the things that happened this year. He’s got a wide spectrum of dealing with issues, from dealing with personnel and coaching, which certainly is valuable in today’s arena.”

Hiring a defensive-minded head coach, Gradishar said, will be good.

“I’m sure from the answers to a lot of questions John asked in the hiring of Coach Fox, they must have been convinced that, from a defensive and head-coaching standpoint, he’s strong in all those areas and that will be important in being able to rebuild a team,” he said.

Former Broncos linebacker Tom Graham, owner and operator of G-7 Enterprises in Denver, still has a connection with the team. His son, Daniel, is the Broncos’ veteran tight end.

“I think a lot of people are excited about seeing a defensive-minded coach come in here,” Graham said. “Let’s see what that does, let’s see if we can get back to those Orange Crush days when the defense was prominent.”

A graduate of Wheat Ridge High School and the University of Colorado, Terry Frei has been named a state's sportswriter of the year six times -- three times each in Oregon and Colorado. He mainly covers college football and hockey for The Post. He's the author of seven books, including the novel "Olympic Affair" about Colorado's Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion.

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